by William Morgan

cover photo via amazon.comSomeone asked me if I like Modern houses the other day. It was a simple enough question, but I found myself delivering a convoluted answer. 

What do we mean by Modern? What does liking it or not liking it mean? Does the answer classify me as a member of one camp and not another?

I offer you Yankee Modern as a partial answer. It features ten houses by the Rhode Island firm of Estes/Twombly Architects. Both principles are fellow RISD alumni, with Estes graduating 20 years before me. 

Their work, by their own description, portrays a "quiet modernism, rooted in New England tradition". It's simple, straightforward, spare, and regionally inspired in design and material.

It's neither Modern (of the mid-century variety) nor traditional.  It is of today and of its place. And, yeah, I like it.

I like the photo-centric book too.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast